This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The overall goal of the Bioactive Nutrients activity is to investigate nutritional components that may have efficacy in human disease prevention and are highly cost-effective, non-invasive alternatives to the more conventional procedures or therapeutics utilized in post-diagnosis treatment. Given the significant health problems that are amenable to dietary intervention, and the potential for this course of action in Hawaii, our long-term goals are to use multidisciplinary, translational approaches to understand the molecular, cellular and organismal mechanisms behind nutrition-based disease prevention in humans, based on preliminary studies in other model systems. The Bioactive Nutrients activity fosters research projects by promising young investigators, one dealing with the effects of the dietary supplement selenium on the development of acute and chronic asthma in a mouse model, the other investigating the efficacy of components in an Asian vegetable, bitter melon, to reduce adiposity and insulin resistance in vivo and in vitro. Microscopy and other imaging methods are critical techniques in a broad range of biomedical research endeavors. Rapid expansion in the number of NCRR- and other extramurally-supported programs at UHM, has resulted in far greater challenges in the coordination and prioritization of competing research-infrastructure needs and scientific goals. The overall goal of the Microscopy and Imaging Core Facility is to consolidate a variety of microscopes and other imaging systems into a single core facility to maximize use of these resources, bring together diverse expertise and technology, and foster collaboration and exchange of methodologies and reagents.